Talk:Elfen Lied Frequently Asked Questions/@comment-2020154-20140329150315/@comment-2020154-20140330050930
1 - Maybe # 28 was the first and only inhabitant of her room, while Nana replaced a previous unfortunate # 7 who died from the cruel experiments conducted there. Maybe, just as some kids mature faster than others (See King Of The Hill's Bobby Hill versus his best friend Joseph Gribble) even the Silpelits doubled aging is hastened by this factor. Alternatively, the sheer misery of # 28's life aged her prematurely. The room numbers may not denote birth order--unless I'm missing a manga quote? 2 - I'm just gonna concede this one and have done. The timeline doesn't work for so many things. The birth and infection arc, the length of the series, the existence of the Research Institute to meet a threat that could only have been detected after several families were slaughtered three years after the train ride, the Diclonius War, the birth of Nyuu Junior. You know, while I despise the Airbender film for so many things, one good idea it had was to make Sozin's Comet be three years away, although ironically the world it depicted seemed smaller than the TV series, since Zhao sailed back to the FN to get Ozai's personal nod before heading to the North Pole. I think the only way for the manga to work with the rules we know is to just say it all took place over a longer time period. I think it was Gohan who put fwd the idea that Lucy and Kouta met over the course of a whole summer, rather than just at its end. A proposed new timeline : June 1991 - The puppy, the orphanage and Kouta. Kouta shuttles between the girls he knows and Kaede, whose name he learns. At one point, Kaede sees the family eating dinner from outside, like in the poem. She misses seeing Yuka by a minute. All three are about eight, and Kanae is six. July 1991 - Not implying that this justifies anything, but when Kaede, wearing her cap, approaches Kanae and asks where Kouta is, Kanae thinks (with reason) that this is another rival for his attention, and insults her. Kaede's fragile feelings carry the rage of this moment, unable to see Kanae is simply being bratty and would do this to any girl interested in Kouta. August - The entire month has Kamakura spooked by a mad killer, wiping out entire families. During the day, Kouta shows Kaede all the things he loves, and she grows to love them too. She asks about the carnival before Yuka, but his father makes him promise to take Yuka, and Kouta has to break his original promise to Kaede. This, coupled with the lie and Kanae's insult and resentment over his having so much, breaks her. The carnival and the train ride follow. September 1991 - 1996 Kaede walks far and wide in Kanto, spreading the vector virus and causing heart failure in many. She avoids the attention of authorities by not killing families. To have places to stay, she opens up summer rentals during the colder months when they are not in use, stealing food by causing distractions with her powers. In 1996, she meets Aiko, and kills her father and his girlfriend without Aiko's knowledge, the latter because the girlfriend saw Kaede act and was going to scream as in canon. Aiko never understands why her friend stares at people sometimes. 1997 - Number Three is the twin sister of the Ambush Diclonius killed by police in the film flashback. Taken into captivity despite never having hurt anyone, she is in despair when Kurama voices his objections. A mix of relief that someone objects and hatred that he doesn't stop it makes her want to meet him. When she is killed, another Silpelit confusedly asks if Kurama is happy this girl is dead. Kurama explains that killing is never right, even if it must sometimes occur. These questions and others make Kurama aware of Number Seven's differing nature. When she hears Kisaragi call the expectant father 'Papa' affectionately, Number Seven picks up on this. In a cell several rows down, hearing a girl like herself feel joy at having a father figure only deepens the despair and affects the performance of the girl in Room 28. 1998 - Birth of Mariko and death of Hiromi. Kurama becomes monomaniacally fixated on finding the source of these infections. This is worsened when Kakuzawa fully orders him away from Mariko, which aids Saito's manipulations. Turning to Number Seven, he imparts her eager mind with all manner of moral do's and don'ts, deepening their relationship. The impressionable Nana begins to believe Kurama is her father. 1999 - A reluctant Kaede takes Aiko back to Kamakura, hearing that her mother will be there at a mall art show. But Aiko, who was believed killed along with her father, is seen and wanted for information about this, though she is not considered a true suspect. Aiko, suspicious of their intentions, flees authorities, which alerts Kurama and Professor Kakuzawa. Aiko is killed when she stands up to turn herself in, since she believes they are after her. Police find a case belonging to Aiko and give it to her mother, who vows to make an art show for her late child one day, sketching her as she might have looked as an adult. ( More to come)